Tuesday, 31 May 2016

Snoopy and Charlie Brown are the faces of the Peanuts franchise, but it actually has
quite an extensive supporting cast. Probably not one big enough to rival The Simpsons, but if you watched the
recent Peanuts Movie (or Charlie Brown and Snoopy Movie as it was
known in Australia) you would have recognised a lot of familiar faces from the
comic strip.

And one of those faces was the subject of today’s review –
Olaf, Snoopy’s decidedly chunkier brother. Yep, Snoopy has a brother. Several,
in fact, though Olaf is one of the few who’s made prominent appearances in the
strip.

THE POP

Olaf debuted back
in 1989 as the disappointed winner of the “Ugly Dog” contest, and went on
to make multiple appearances in both the strip and the animated specials over
the following years. In spite of his supposedly ugly appearance, he’s actually
quite endearingly cute – though he could probably do with losing a few kilos. You
can read the whole thing starting from here. In typical Peanuts
fashion, it’s quite funny, but is also very depressing in parts – particularly when
we see Olaf’s reactions to his “win”.

I’m not really clear why he was the first
character outside of the main range to be included. I would have thought one of
the human characters, like Peppermint Patty, would have been a more obvious
inclusion. Olaf does appear in the recent
film, but it’s very brief – and the more obvious choice for one of Snoopy’s
brothers would have been Spike, who’s much more prominent in the comics. I’m
pleased with their choice, but it is an unusual one.

In terms of execution, Olaf looks like a fat Snoopy, wearing
a brown hunting cap and with a pink tongue slightly protruding from his mouth. His
eyes are also painted half-closed, reinforcing the overall hefty feel. It’s a
simple design, but it works. Like his brother,
Olaf is frequently drawn in a position that would be ¾ profile in real life –
you can’t replicate that exactly in plastic, but I think it’s just slightly
truer to the character than Snoopy ended up being. Well done, Funko!

Paint is cleanly executed, but check yours in person before buying. I've seen some with fuzz around the nose and eyes -- and the hat is actually cast in white, then painted brown, so making sure the hat is properly covered is quite important.

AVAILABILITY

Olaf was a Target exclusive in the US, so I wasn’t sure if
he’d actually make it over here – he was reselling for silly money not long
after his release last year. But he’s now made his way to Australia as a
regular release via Popcultcha. I’ve also seen him in Kinokuniya in Sydney, though
not anywhere else.

OVERALL

For Peanuts fans, this is a must-have POP. Olaf hasn’t had a
lot of merch over the years, and it’s always good to see more. If this one
sells well, hopefully we’ll also eventually get Spike! More casual fans can probably give him a miss –
but he is pretty endearing in person.

Sunday, 29 May 2016

Back in October last year, I posted an article about how I ended up with a Cthulhu Mystery Mini. That article ended up being one of my most popular articles last year, for whatever reason. You may or may not recall that I mentioned that Cthulhu was quite a rare figure in the series, being packed at a 1/24 ratio -- but there was an even rarer variant...a glow in the dark one!

That article I've linked back to above covers the details about the sculpt; I don't really need to repeat them here. The primary difference with this guy is that he's been moulded in glow-in-the-dark plastic. The only paint apps included this time around are the white for his eyes, and the grey that surrounds them. All of the spots and splotches are gone, with the plastic left bare to glow. And glow he does, lighting up the room by night.

This Cthulhu is a good example of a variant -- he's fun, but not essential, and acts a complementary piece to the original, rather than detracting from the fun. In the past the Mystery Minis have made some really unusual (and irritating) choices in their series ratios, but with the exception of Hellraiser's Pinhead being a 1/72 figure, I think Funko did a pretty good job with this one. An enjoyable, but not essential addition to the collection.

Saturday, 21 May 2016

I haven’t reviewed a Transformer in quite a while, but I
have a couple more planned for the next couple of weeks…including one particularly
big one that’s been eyeing me off from the shelf for a few months.

Though I’m
definitely not all-in on the line, Combiner Wars continues to go from strength
to strength with the release of the component Decepticons for Bruticus. Bruticus and his component Decepticons received figures
relatively recently, during the 2012 Fall
of Cybertron subline of Generations. However, as these were based on the
game, they weren’t very G1-looking, and the actual execution got a bit of a
mixed reception. But truth be told, I don’t remember Bruticus at all from my
younger years of Transformers fandom. I don’t remember seeing any of his component
toys (maybe Blast Off), as by the
time I was old enough to really be interested in Transformers, the G2 re-releases
were the ones on store shelves. Bruticus got one in 1994, long after they’d dropped
off my radar.

Basically, Swindle is new territory for me, so you get to
undertake the magical voyage of discovery with me. Apparently Swindle is a heavy retool of Rook (the
Protectron), but they’ve done an impressive job of making him look totally
different. He transforms between ‘bot and some kind of army jeep, just like the
G1 version, but is now a little less squat and obviously a lot more articulated. The articulation is pretty much what you'd expect, and he moves very well. The main noteworthy feature is that he seems to have some sort of side-to-side swivel on his ankles -- it's surprisingly not part of his transformation, but it helps him stay balanced for deeper poses.

On another note, I
tend to prefer my Transformers without humanoid faces, but the purple
sunglasses are a nice 80s retro-futuristic throwback, which in my book gives
him an edge over some of his other befaced Decepticons.

Swindle’s colour scheme is a nice desert camouflage in
vehicle mode, but when you transform him to bot mode he’s actually got a lot of
black and purple, along with a bit of dark, metallic grey. It’s not dissimilar
to the colour scheme the Constructicons had back
in G2, though somewhat more realistically executed (though I use this term loosely
as realism doesn’t really factor in to Transformers). But speaking of G2, there will
apparently be a G2 colour scheme repaint box set of Bruticus later this year
too – I think I’ll pass on that one though, it’s a little too 90s neon for my
tastes.

And for those who like the mould but not Decepticons or the
colour scheme, you’re in luck! Swindle has undergone a further retool to become
Autobot Hound, who's be part of Sky Reign (who looks awesome, by the way).

In addition to his gun and his hand/foot piece for becoming part of Bruticus, Swindle is also packed with a copy of Robots in Disguise #12, which has been rebranded as Combiner Wars #4. It’s a good read – and
reminds me that I need to pick up some of the IDW compilation – even if it
doesn’t actually include Swindle in there. Still, that’s oddly appropriate,
given that Swindle’s characterisation is all about ripping people off.

I don’t plan to complete Bruticus; his combined form is
pretty cool, but some of the regular bots just don’t grab me. But overall, Swindle is a great
standalone character for any Decepticon collection. And even if you don't want Bruticus, he still works as a Cyclonus
limb too.

Saturday, 14 May 2016

Every now and then I have to remind myself that Lego is largely
designed with children in mind, rather than the AFOLs. When the Mighty Micros range was first announced, I was
actually quite excited. The character line-up was a good one, and featured a
few characters who were either discontinued or had only been featured in sets
that were rather expensive. These would be a great way to plug a few gaps in my
DC and Marvel collections, and the spare bricks from the karts could be tossed
aside into a box somewhere, never to be seen again.

But then I discovered that they would be using the short minifigure legs instead of the
regular ones. I was very disappointed – this was one geared much more heavily
at kids than adults. I mean, it works for Robin, but who else would want a
short Flash, or Catwoman? And the funny thing is, I would have HATED the core
concept as a child. Why would The Flash have a car/go-kart when he’s the
fastest man alive? Did Captain Cold ever have a Zamboni-eqsue vehicle in the
comics? Granted, I didn’t understand marketing, cost vs profit, or being
deliberately (cynically?) toyetic as a kid, but the variant versions of main
characters that have no basis in comics or other media drove me up the wall as
a child. I suspect I’m not the only one, either – really, if you give just
about anyone the choice between a regular Batman or some kind of bizarre armour
variant, you’d probably pick the regular one, I’m guessing? Which is part –
though not the entire – of the reason that so many media-based action figure
lines pegwarm for months after the film has gone from cinemas.

I digress. I didn’t see myself with any other options for a
Flash or Captain Cold minifigure anytime soon, so I decided to bite the bullet
while I was in the States recently. These guys have been selling out left,
right and centre in Australia, so obviously the kids do like them; and I have to say they’ve grown on me a lot after
getting them out of the box.

THE BUILD

After that lengthy rant, let’s discuss the actual product. The
core conceit behind the Mighty Micros concept is that a bunch of Marvel and DC
characters are having Mario Kart-style races against one another. They’re
paired up in hero/villain teams (and before anyone points it out, yes I know
Catwoman isn’t really a villain these days).

The karts are loosely themed around the character driving
them. Captain Cold’s looks like a Zamboni, which is kind of fun even outside of
the context of this set. There’s not enough Lego love for ice hockey these
days. The Flash’s is a red kart-thing, with flames trailing out the back. It
doesn’t really look like anything specific but it works – and the flames do
give the impression that he is much, much faster than his rival. As is key for any toy car, both designs are very swooshable. And given the inherent fragility of plenty of Lego sets, rougher kids than I could probably have a pretty hectic demolition derby.

Additionally, both are paired with loosely relevant
accessories. Captain Cold gets his usual Cold Gun, and an ice-cream cone, while
Flash gets a can of “Power Bolt”, which is presumably some kind of energy
drink. This is continued across other sets, in mostly logical fashion – Red
Skull gets the Tesseract, Catwoman gets a carton of milk, and Hulk for some
obscure reason gets a chicken drumstick.

OVERALL

I like the concept, and it seems to be selling well – but I
really wish they’d used regular minifigure legs instead of the short ones we
got instead. As mentioned above, it would have been a great way to make more
obscure/previously released but rare characters more readily available – as it
is, it's a fun novelty.

It’s been a while between Mystery Mini reviews, and I still
have a couple more I need to get up onto the site. But today we take a look at one of the most iconic creatures in horror history – Frankenstein’s Monster!

As with just about every piece of merchandise based on
Frankenstein’s Monster released since the 1930s, this figurine is clearly based
on Boris Karloff’s iteration of The Monster. Karloff played many famous
monsters in his long career, but The Monster is the one that made him a star,
and the one he’s still most closely associated with. The character’s prominent place in pop culture also means that
it’s going to be subject to an extra level of scrutiny – and he does come up a
little shorter than some of his fellow Mystery Mini companions. I don’t love the shade
of green they’ve used for his skin – it’s bordering on aqua, rather than the
usual sort of sickly lime green. And while the sculpt is a good conversion of
the character into the Mystery Minis style, I think his arms should be more
stretched out in front of him, rather than being held daintily at an awkward
angle by his sides.

So the overall verdict? Well, Frankenstein’s Monster is a
good Mystery Mini, but not a great one. If you’re tossing up between this one
and the Funko POP, I’d say stick with the POP. Solid but unspectacular.

Monday, 9 May 2016

Plenty of superheroes get around in vehicles, but few of
them ever attain the iconic status of something like the Batmobile. But carving
out its own little niche of campy success over the years has been Wonder Woman’s
Invisible Plane.

Though Wonder Woman can fly, how well/how long/how high has
been pretty loosely defined over the decades. Apparently she could initially ride
wind currents, but the plane was still necessary for long-distance travel. Since
the mid-1980s (post-Crisis On Infinite
Earths) she can now just straight-up fly like Superman, so the Invisible
Jet doesn’t get as much exposure in the comics or associated media as it used
to. Nonetheless, it’s still a big part of the Wonder Woman mythos; it’s pretty
silly in a post-Image Comics world, but it’s also pretty fun.

This set seems to be based on the Lynda Carter TV series, which
makes sense as it got quite a bit of screentime there. The box art uses the
same style of font as the TV series title card, though this had also been used
on the comic for many years prior. But let’s just roll with that; I’ve been
hoping they’d do a Lynda Carter version of the character for a couple of years
now.

THE RIDE

The first thing I should note here is this thing’s box is
BIG – I’m pretty sure that it’s the biggest Ride box Funko have yet done. Though
the vehicle itself isn’t especially large once it’s assembled, you’ll need a
bit of space if you plan on keeping it in the box.

Side note: In a few places on the box, the name has been
misspelt as “The Inivisibile Jet”. Whoops.

Though the package it gives off the vibe of being based on
the TV show, the Jet’s design is actually more reminiscent of the Super
Powers cartoon than the Lynda
Carter one. Though both are kind of campy and silly in retrospect, I think
the SP one was a good choice; it’s a smoother design and has a few more little
details that keep it interesting. And hey, it’s invisible, so who’s to say that
didn’t really look like this anyway? The only real downside is that the left
wing has a bunch of copyright information moulded into it, which breaks up the
smoothness of the look a little.

THE POP

The Wonder Woman POP itself is worlds better than original WW
POP released all those years ago; it’s a totally new sculpt, cast in
several different pieces. It’s not radically different at first glance, but it’s
been a little slimmed down, and her hair has been lengthened and straightened. The
overall design is very reminiscent of the costume that Lynda
Carter wore back in Series 1 of the 1970s TV series. And if you’re not
fussed on the show, it serves just as well as a comics-based version.

PAINT

Paint is obviously non-existent for the Invisible Jet, but
it’s quite good for the POP itself. Virtually everything wrong with the last
one has been addressed here – lines are cleanly executed, the stars on her
trunks are crisp and neat, and there’s very little bleed or slop. The star on
her tiara is a little off, but it’s overall such an improvement that at this
point it’s tempting to take the old one and through it into the bin in a rage.

OVERALL

This is my first foray into the POP! Rides series; I flirted
with the Turtle Van, but was never able to convince myself as I knew it would
mean going all in on all of the other Turtles POPs that had been released. Cool
as they are, I don’t need to collect another series of POPS. On this occasion, I’m
really glad I took the plunge; the inherently silly nature of the vehicle lends
itself well to the POP style, and it’s a great tribute to an important facet of
the character. With Wonder Woman’s greatly increased profile thanks to the
recent release of Batman vs Superman:
Dawn of Justice, it’s an ideal time for release too.

This POP! Ride has been selling out all over Sydney, so you’ll
probably have to order it online as I did. Zing is apparently stocking them,
but EB Games only had them as a preorder; I ended up getting mind from
Popcultcha, which meant I couldn’t check the paint personally but was better than
risking not getting it at all. Well worth the investment if you’re a Wonder
Woman fan.

Friday, 6 May 2016

As some regular readers will know, I recently paid a visit
to the good ol’ U.S.A., and had an absolutely fantastic time while I was there.
It’s a wonderful country. And when you visit a new place, you should bring back
a souvenir. I have two tiki mugs from my time in Hawaii, and scotch glasses
from Tasmania, for instance. But America was trickier – U.S.A. shirts/mugs/pint
glasses/hip flasks/flags were all in abundance, but I don’t tend to go for something
so obvious. But it just didn’t feel right leaving America without buying
something patriotic. And then I stumbled across this gem in Gamestop.

But why a
Captain America figure? Sure, it’s overtly American, but what makes it stand
out more than any other one? Read on to discover more…

SCULPT AND
ARTICULATION

This is a comics-based Cap, complete with pirate boots. It’s
much more spandex superhero than military tactician, and could be from
virtually any Cap comic from the 1970s through to the 1990s. I’m sure the face
is based on someone’s art, but I’m pretty sure it’s also reused from an earlier
figure – maybe one of the Captain
America: Winter Soldier waves? I only own a handful of ML figures, so I
can’t pinpoint it with accuracy. More familiar readers should feel free to
chime in the comments section.

Articulation is what you’d expect from an ML figure –
ball-jointed and hinged neck, swivel-hinge biceps, ab crunch, double elbows,
swivel-hinge wrists, cut waist, ball-jointed hips, cut thighs, souble-jointed
knees, cut calves (for the boots) and rocker ankles. I believe this is slightly
more than some figures get – I don’t think everyone has the double elbows, but
everything else seems pretty consistent with the other ML figures I’ve bought.
Some of the joints will be a little stiff at first, but if you;re careful you shouldn't have any issues. Though speaking of the double elbows – I know some people love
them, but I don’t think it works as well as it should here. The forearms are
cast in white, in a softer plastic than the rest of the body. I assume this is
to accommodate the slightly-flared gloves, but it makes the joints a little
trickier to move. I’ve also had a little of the red paint rub off on one of the gloves too, though fortunately it can be covered with the shield.

ACCESSORIES

Accessories that aren’t crappy oversized missile launchers
are becoming an increasingly rarity in the action figure world, so it’s nice to
get some at all. There are:

*Two additional hands,
including a pointing one: Cap
sure does love to point, especially in the movies, so it’s a good
inclusion. Jon at Preternia suggests that this is the first time a comics-based
Cap has had this hand, which just seems crazy to me! Oh well; the toy industry
works in mysterious ways. He's also got one that allows him to salute too, as seen at right.

*His signature
shield: Naturally. I suspect it’s more reuse from another figure, and can
be clipped to his forearm or stored in the plughole on his back. Both look pretty
good.

*One other accessory:
which I’ll get to in just a moment…

*He also comes with a
BAF piece: Onslaught’s cape. I don’t have any real desire to complete the
BAF (though it does look cool) so I think this will go be going on eBay
shortly.

There’s one other thing I should mention, too – I’m not sure if they’re meant to be accessories, but he does
also come with two shoulder straps. They’re attached to him in the packaging,
and they look really cool in place – I assumed they’d be a conjoined piece,
with a strap running across the back. However, they're separate pieces, so as soon as you move him, they
fall off. There doesn’t appear to be any sensible way to keep them on, short of
gluing them, and then you might even manage to ruin the articulation of the
shoulders in the process. It’s a bit of a misfire, which is a shame – had it
worked properly it would have been a nice bit of detailing. As it is, they’ll
just go in the accessories box.

Totally useless

PAINT

Paint is very…adequate. As you can probably see in the
photos, they did his eyes properly, but everything else leaves a bit to be
desired – the wings, his chin, the skin lines around his mask – it could
probably be fixed by someone with a dream and a paintbrush, but it does seem
unusually sloppy. There was only one on the shelf, so I didn’t have multiple
options to pick from – if you do, I’d suggest you weigh up some different ones
before picking it up. As to the rest of him – well, Cap’s costume in the comics
is all about extreme contrasts, mimicking the colours of the American flag. It
works very well on the printed page, but as anyone who’s ever done any painting
knows, red paint over white paint can run into some issues. I’m already
mentioned some rub on one of the gloves above, but I can see this being an
issue for anyone who fiddles around with the ab-crunch too much as well. I had
some very (admittedly minor) chipping, so just be careful.

THE BIG REVEAL

So, I’ve told you a lot about the figure, but I haven’t
revealed the real reason I bought it.
After all, it’s a pretty standard Cap figure so far, isn’t it? Well, remember I
mentioned there was one another accessory? Here it is!

Possibly the best thing you'll see this year

That’s right, it’s a Capwolf head.

Many of you will no doubt be asking what the hell this is,
and that’s a fair question. Well, to grossly simplify, comics were crazy in the
1990s. Marvel and DC were selling gangbusters, but younger players like Image
were a real sales threat – so Marvel and DC threw everything they could to
compete; the EDGIER the better. Hence why Superman died, Green Lantern became
evil, Wolverine was in every Marvel (and some DC ones) and
Captain America became a werewolf. CAPWOLF.

I’ve never read the relevant issues, but I don’t need to. All I need to know is that Captain America
became a werewolf. In fact, reading it would probably ruin everything –
comics tend to date pretty quickly, and I strongly suspect time has not been
kind to the 90s-tasticness of this concept.

Taken as a whole, the figure is not accurate to the comic – the
neck looks a little thin, there’s no torn up boots or costume, and no clawed
gloves. But the fact that Hasbro gave a nod to this relatively forgotten and
ridiculous piece of Cap’s history in action figure form was just too good an
American souvenir to pass up – and hey, I love wolves. In case you hadn’t
noticed, the blog is called the Lupine
Book Club. Even better, there is no reference to Capwolf on the packaging.
The head just sits there in the box as an accessory, no doubt leaving many to
just ponder on what it all means.

OVERALL

Thanks to the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
there have now been almost as many Captain America figures on the shelves as
Spider-Man and Batman ones – no small accomplishment. This is a good, solid
standard Cap for a kid who’s never had a figure of him before, but the true
strength of the figure for more long-term collectors lies in the Capwolf head
and the pointing hand accessory. With such heavy reliance on variations of Captain
America (and Iron Man for that matter), Hasbro and Marvel alike are going to have
to get pretty creative to hold the interest of consumers and retailers alike.
Figures like this are definite steps in the right direction.

Sunday, 1 May 2016

When I started collecting POPs back in 2013, I was pretty
darn sure I didn’t want an Aquaman POP. He was pretty readily available, but he
was easily the least desirable of the Justice League members available at the
time. So I passed him up, thinking if I ever changed my mind I’d just pick him
up then – after all, he was a core member of the Justice League, they’d keep
him in production indefinitely, wouldn’t they?

Well, as anyone who’s since tried to track him down since
can attest, the answer is “NO!!!”, accompanied by a swift blow to the testicles.
Regular Aquaman came and went in a relative blink of an eye. The New 52
versions of him, GL, Flash, Supes, Batman and Wonder Woman showed up in Sydney
stores back in about mid-2013 and sold through just as rapidly. Most of them started
popping up again in the last few months – and Aquaman wasn’t among the
restocks, either. I resigned myself to using a BvS Aquaman for my Justice
League, as reviewed here.
This was fine and all, but wasn’t ideal.

Yet it seemed that the chase wasn’t over; While visiting New
York, I found myself in the Midtown Comics store near Times Square, and this
guy was lurking on the shelves there. Huzzah!

Now, when most of the New 52 versions of some
previously-released POPs came out, they reused the same sculpts and slightly
altered the paint. Aquaman was different, though – gone was the Shazam head,
replaced instead with a new hair sculpt. The body remains the same, though it’s
been upgraded to a slightly different paint job – gold on the scales instead of
orange.

And on the topic of paint, this one is pretty cleanly
executed. Last year I bought the metallic version of Deathstroke, and I was
disappointed to discover that his back hadn’t been painted properly, so I was afraid
the same thing would happen with Aquaman’s scales here. But fortunately it’s
been done properly here, as you can see in the back picture below.

Aquaman didn’t exactly blow me away, but it is quite
satisfying to have found him. The Jason Momoa figure is a great take on him
(and really, quite a bit better in terms of sculpting and design) but there’s
something appealing about having all of the classics too.